African historiography

African historiography is a branch of historiography concerning the African continent, its peoples, nations and variety of written and non-written histories. It has differentiated itself from other continental areas of historiography due to its multidisciplinary nature, as Africa's unique and varied methods of recording history have resulted in a lack of an established set of historical works documenting events before European colonialism. As such, African historiography has lent itself to contemporary methods of historiographical study and the incorporation of anthropological and sociological analysis.

The chronology of African recorded history encompasses many movements of art, African nations and dialects, and its history has permeated through many mediums. History concerning much of the pre-colonialist African continent is depicted through art or passed down through oral tradition. As European colonization emerged, the cultural identity and socio-political structure of the continent drastically shifted, and the written documentation of Africa and its people was dominated by European academia, which was later acknowledged and criticized in post-colonialist movements of the 20th century.

African historiography became organised in the mid 20th century, and saw a movement towards utilising oral sources in a multidisciplinary approach alongside archaeology and historical linguistics, culminating in UNESCO publishing the General History of Africa from 1981, edited by specialists from across the continent. Contemporary historians are still tasked with building the institutional frameworks, incorporating African epistemologies, establishing a continental periodisation, and representing an African perspective.

Antiquity

Much of the modern depiction of Africa preceding written history is through archaeology, historical linguistics, and oral tradition. Excluding Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs and the Ge’ez script, a large part of the African continent would not have a means of writing or recording history until the common era.

Oral tradition

Most African societies used oral tradition to record their history. They generally have a reverence for the oral word, and have been termed oral civilisations, contrasted with literate civilisations which pride the written word. Jan Vansina pioneered the study of oral tradition in his book Oral tradition as history (1985).

Early written history

Documents of the Vai script, developed in Liberia in the 19th century

Some African writing systems have been developed in ancient and recent history, and the continent holds a quantity of varied orthographies. One of the most notable ancient languages were the Egyptian hieroglyphs, which were often found carved into walls, as decoration on objects of religious significance and written on wood and papyrus. Hieroglyphs, like many other ancient African dialects, underwent a considerable period of time where there was no verifiable translation. The Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799, would allow historians to effectively decipher hieroglyphs and access a new field of Ancient Egyptian history. This field was undertaken predominantly by European historians. There are also plenty of written records in Arabic and Ge'ez, as well as European written records during their exploration of Africa from the 15th century.

Colonial historiography

Prior to colonisation in the 19th century, most African societies used oral tradition to record their history, meaning there was little written history. The domination of European powers across the continent meant African history was written from an entirely European perspective under the pretence of Western superiority. This predilection stemmed from the perceived technological superiority of European nations and the decentralization of the African continent with no nation being a clear power in the region, as well as a perception of Africans as racially inferior, supporting their "civilising mission". Another factor was there being a multitude of different dialects, cultural groups and fluctuating nations as well as a diverse set of mediums that document history other than written word. Oral sources deprecated and dismissed by unfamiliar historians, giving them the impression Africa had no recorded history and had little desire to create it.

The historical works of the time were predominantly written by scholars of the various European powers and were confined to individual nations, leading to disparities in style, quality, language and content between the many African nations. These works mostly concerned the activities of the European powers and centered on events concerning economic and military endeavors of the powers in the region. Examples of British works were Lilian Knowles' The Economic Development of the British Overseas Empire and Allan McPhees The Economic Revolution in British West Africa, which discuss the economic achievements of the British empire and the state of affairs in African nations controlled by Britain.

Post-colonialist historiography

Post-colonialist historiography studies the relationship between European colonialism and domination in Africa and the construction of African history and representation. It has roots in Orientalism, the construction of cultures from the Asian, Arabian and North African world in a patronizing manner stemming from a sense of Western superiority, first theorized by Edward Said. A general perception of Western superiority throughout European academics and historians prominent during the height of colonialism led to the defining traits of colonial historical works, which post-colonialists have sought to analyse and criticize.

The struggles for independence in the 1950s and 1960s saw a movement towards decolonising African history. Post-colonial works are characterised by their nationalist sentiments and Afrocentrism, reflecting African politics at the time. The period saw a methodological revolution regarding the use of oral sources, archaeology, and historical linguistics. Periodisation has often focussed on Africa's interactions with outsiders. Despite this, there were major challenges which persist, such as "academic labour migration" and reliance on Western publishers inhibiting the growth of institutions in Africa.

William Macmillan and the effect of colonialism

William Miller Macmillan is a historian and post-colonialist thinker. His historical work, Africa Emergent (1938), critiqued colonial rule and sought for the democratization of African nations in seeking African representation in governments. The work not only condemns colonial rule, but also considers the perspectives of and the effect of colonialism on the African people, a considerable difference from the works’ contemporaries. He was a founder of the liberal school of South African historiography and as a forerunner of the radical school of historiography that emerged in the 1970s. He was also a critic of colonial rule and an early advocate of self-government for colonial territories in Africa and of what became known as development aid.

Kenneth Dike, oral sources, and the General History of Africa

In the mid-20th century Kenneth Dike, among other members of the Ibadan School, pioneered a new methodology of reconstructing African history using the oral traditions, and alongside evidence from European-style histories and other historical sciences, destabilising the notion that Africa's history was essentially its interactions with Europeans. This movement towards utilising oral sources in a multi-disciplinary approach culminated in UNESCO commissioning the General History of Africa, edited by specialists drawn from across the African continent, publishing from 1981 to 2024.

Contemporary historiography

Acknowledgement and acceptance of African nations and peoples as individuals free of European domination has allowed African history to be approached from new perspectives and with new methods. Africa has lacked a defined means of communication or academic body due to its variety of cultures and communities, and the plurality and diversity of its many peoples means a historiographical approach that confines itself to the development and activity of a singular people or nation incapable of capturing the comprehensive history of African nations without a vast quantity of historical works.

There is no agreed upon periodisation for Africa history, with the difference in temporal stages of state formation between parts of the continent providing disagreement. Oliver and Atmore proposed Medieval Africa as from 1250 to 1800. Contemporary historians are still tasked with building the institutional frameworks, incorporating African epistemologies, and representing an African perspective.

Institutions

African historiography became organized at the academic level in the mid-20th century. The School of Oriental Studies opened at the University of London in 1916. It became the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1938 and has always been at the center of scholarship on Africa. In the U.S. Northwestern University launched its Program of African Studies in 1948. The first scholarly journals were founded: Transactions of the Gold Coast & Togoland Historical Society (1952); Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria (1956); The Journal of African History (1960); Cahiers d’études africaines (1960); and African Historical Studies (1968). Specialists grouped together in the African Studies Association (1957); the African Studies Association of the UK (1963); the Canadian Association of African Studies/Association Canadienne des Etudes Africaines (1970).

See also

• The Cambridge History of Africa, a multivolume history published 1975–1986
• General History of Africa, a multivolume history published by UNESCO from 1981-2024
• History of Africa
• List of kingdoms in Africa throughout history
• East Africa
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• West Africa

Further reading

• Alagoa, Ebiegberi J., "The Practice of History in Africa: A History of African Historiography." Onyoma Research Publications (2006)
• Bates, Robert H., Vumbi Yoka Mudimbe, and Jean F. O'Barr, eds. Africa and the disciplines: The contributions of research in Africa to the social sciences and humanities (U of Chicago Press, 1993).
• Brown, Karen. "‘Trees, forests and communities’: some historiographical approaches to environmental history on Africa." Area 35.4 (2003): 343-356. online
• Clarence-Smith, William G. "For Braudel: A Note on the 'École des Annales' and the Historiography of Africa." History in Africa 4 (1977): 275–281.
• Cooper, Frederick. "Decolonizing Situations: The Rise, Fall, and Rise of Colonial Studies, 1951-2001," French Politics, Culture, and Society 20#2 (2002): 47–76.
• Curtin, Philip, et al. African History: From Earliest Times to Independence (2nd ed. 1995), a standard history; 546 pages0
• Curtin, Philip D. African history (1964) 80pp; online
• Engelbrecht, C. "Marx’s Theory of Colonisation and Contemporary Eastern Cape (South Africa) Historiography." (2012) online
• Etherington, Norman. "Recent trends in the historiography of Christianity in Southern Africa." Journal of Southern African Studies 22.2 (1996): 201–219.
• Hetherington, Penelope. "Women in South Africa: the historiography in English." International Journal of African Historical Studies 26.2 (1993): 241–269.
• Hopkins, A. G. "Fifty years of African economic history." Economic History of Developing Regions 34.1 (2019): 1–15.
• Iliffe, John. Africans: The History of a Continent (1995; 3rd ed/ 2017) online, a standard history.
• Ki-Zerbo, Joseph, ed. UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. I, Methodology and African Prehistory (1981), unabridged online 850pp; also abridged edition 368pp (U of California Press, 1981)
  • Fage, J. D. "The development of African historiography." pp 25–42
  • Curtin, P.D. "Recent trends in African historiography and their contribution to history in general" pp 54–71.
• MacGaffey, Wyatt. "Concepts of race in the historiography of Northeast Africa." Journal of African History (1966): 1–17. online
• Manning, Patrick. "African and world historiography." Journal of African History (2013): 319–330. online
• Martin, William G., William Martin, and Michael Oliver West, eds. Out of one, many Africas: Reconstructing the study and meaning of Africa (U of Illinois Press, 1999).
• Maylam, Paul. South Africa's racial past: The history and historiography of racism, segregation, and apartheid (Routledge, 2017).
• Roberts, A. D. "The Earlier Historiography of Colonial Africa" History in Africa , Vol. 5 (1978), pp. 153–167. online
• Robertshaw, Peter. "Rivals no more: Jan Vansina, precolonial African historiography, and archaeology." History in Africa 45, no. 1 (2018): 145–160.
• Whitehead, Clive. "The historiography of British imperial education policy, Part II: Africa and the rest of the colonial empire." History of Education 34.4 (2005): 441–454. online
• Zewde, Bahru. "African historiography: Past, present and future." Afrika Zamani: revue annuelle d'histoire africaine/Annual Journal of African History 7-8 (2000): 33–40.
• Zimmerman, Andrew. "Africa in imperial and transnational history: Multi-sited historiography and the necessity of theory." Journal of African History (2013): 331–340. online

Regions

• Akyeampong, Emmanuel Kwaku. Themes in West Africa's History (2006) 323pp.
• Burton, Andrew, and Michael Jennings. "Introduction: The emperor's new clothes? Continuities in governance in late colonial and early postcolonial East Africa." International Journal of African Historical Studies 40.1 (2007): 1-25. online
• Borutta, Manuel, and Sakis Gekas. "A colonial sea: The Mediterranean, 1798–1956." European Review of History 19.1 (2012): 1-13' North Africa online
• Cobley, Alan. "Does social history have a future? The ending of apartheid and recent trends in South African historiography." Journal of Southern African Studies 27.3 (2001): 613–625.
• Dueck, Jennifer M. "The Middle East and North Africa in the imperial and post-colonial historiography of France." Historical Journal (2007): 935–949. online
• Dueppen, Stephen A. "The archaeology of West Africa, ca. 800 BCE to 1500 CE." History Compass 14.6 (2016): 247–263.
• Fage, J. D. A Guide to Original Sources for Precolonial Western Africa Published in European Languages (2nd ed. 1994); updated in Stanley B. Alpern, ed. Guide to Original Sources for Precolonial Western Africa (2006).
• Gjersø, Jonas Fossli. "The scramble for East Africa: British motives reconsidered, 1884–95." Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 43.5 (2015): 831–860. online
• Greene, S. E. Sacred Sites and the Colonial Encounter: A History of Meaning and Memory in Ghana (2002)
• Hannaford, Matthew J. "Pre-Colonial South-East Africa: Sources and Prospects for Research in Economic and Social History." Journal of Southern African Studies 44.5 (2018): 771–792. online
• Heckman, Alma Rachel. "Jewish Radicals of Morocco: Case Study for a New Historiography." Jewish Social Studies 23.3 (2018): 67–100. online
• Lemarchand, René. "Reflections on the recent historiography of Eastern Congo." Journal of African History 54.3 (2013): 417–437. online
• Mann, Gregory. "Locating colonial histories: between France and West Africa." American Historical Review 110.2 (2005): 409–434. focus on local memories and memorials online
• Reid, Richard. "Time and distance: Reflections on local and global history from East Africa." Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 29 (2019): 253–272. online
• Reid, Andrew. "Constructing history in Uganda." Journal of African History 57.2 (2016): 195–207. online
• Soares, Benjamin. "The historiography of Islam in West Africa: an anthropologist's view." Journal of African History 55.1 (2014): 27–36. online
• Tonkin, Elizabeth. Narrating our pasts: The social construction of oral history (Cambridge university press, 1995), on West Africa